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    drgnslayr

    @drgnslayr

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    Best posts made by drgnslayr

    • KU's "Secret Weapon" For This Year's March Madness!

      Alright—gotcha.
      If you clicked expecting some hidden schematic or undercover transfer, furgettaboutit! True Jayhawk fans know better. And yes, podcasters… we see your eyes watching!

      So does Kansas have a “secret weapon” heading into March Madness?

      The answer is absolutely yes—and it’s not just one thing.

      College basketball fans across the country are starting to lock in on this Jayhawks team. Why? Because they’re seeing what many of us have sensed all season: this team hasn’t even come close to its ceiling yet!

      The Turning Point

      Let’s start with where things changed.

      After that rough night in Morgantown, the players held a closed-door meeting on January 10. Since then? Six games. Six wins. Zero doubts.

      That wasn’t just a meeting—it was a reset. The message was simple: raise the standard. And the response has been undeniable.

      Still Climbing

      Here’s the scary part for the rest of the country: no honest basketball fan can look at this Kansas roster and say they’ve maxed out. Improvement is still coming—across the board.

      The most obvious leap lately? Our post play!

      Flory and Bryson are becoming a legitimate inside nightmare. Their chemistry has skyrocketed, especially with their growing comfort passing to each other—often leading to emphatic finishes at the rim. It’s physical. It’s smart. And it’s starting to dictate games.

      The Backbone: Tre White

      Tre White has been Kansas’ most consistent presence all season. And make no mistake—this isn’t a “good enough” guy. This is a grown man who impacts winning even when his shot isn’t falling.

      Rebounding. Hustle. Leadership. Toughness. Finish thru contact.

      As the team elevates, Tre’s ceiling rises with it. He’s not staying where he is—he’s going up another level.

      The Connection Factor

      Darryn and Melvin belong together in this conversation. Not because they need to be glued at the hip—but because their next step is connection.

      They’re learning how to move in sync, how to play off each other, and how to stay aggressive without forcing things. And let’s not forget—Darryn logged 37 minutes at Texas Tech. That matters as we move forward!

      The Bench Will Matter

      Stat sheets won’t tell the full story here, but the tape does.

      Jamari has quietly stepped into a meaningful role that many didn’t see coming—and he’s delivered when called upon. Elmarko? The flashes have been loud. When he plays with confidence and energy, his athleticism is absolutely big-league.

      Kansas will need more than seven guys as March wears on. Those “blow minutes” will be critical—and the pieces are there.

      ⚠️ Health Warning ⚠️

      If you’re faint of heart, now’s the time to step away.

      Because here’s the truth: this team has another gear!

      There will be one more players-only meeting before the NCAA Tournament begins. And that conversation won’t be about survival—it’ll be about domination.

      DP still has another level. Anyone surprised by that hasn’t been paying attention. His version of “cautious” is still dropping 20+ in a half. When he fully unleashes it, everyone will notice.

      And once he does?
      Melvin and Flory follow.
      Bryson and Tre aren’t far behind.
      And whatever you do—don’t sleep on Elmarko! He’s been playing at about 80%, not because he can’t do more, but because the mental switch hasn’t fully flipped yet.

      That’s about to change.

      Why This Team Is Dangerous

      Kansas has the potential to smother teams in March. Defense. Rebounding. Physicality. Depth.

      Holding opponents under 30% shooting.
      Winning the glass on both ends.
      Turning defense into steals and transition points.

      When you defend like that, hot or cold shooting nights stop mattering.

      No team in the country has this much untapped upside left.

      And the best part? You can’t scout “another gear.”

      Bill Self will do what he always does—prepare his team the right way. Strong defenders at all five spots. Smart switching. Subtle tweaks. Championship habits.

      The rest of the country is just now catching on.

      Kansas already knows who we are!

      Rock Chalk!

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • From now on...

      From now on, let's only recruit players that do this! No one is going to convince me this is staged and the guys are only here for a paycheck!

      This is quickly becoming one of my favorite all-time Jayhawk teams, and that is regardless of their March performance!

      jayhawkcrazies.jpg

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Kansas Jayhawks vs Davidson Wildcats Game Chat Mon. 12/22 7:00 CT

      Our athleticism completely dominated this game. It's been years since I've said that! Merry Christmas, everyone!

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Kansas Jayhawks vs Davidson Wildcats Game Chat Mon. 12/22 7:00 CT

      Come on, guys... there is nothing similar to these guys playing ball and being paid and any form of a regular job. How many of you guys started your career with million dollar annual guarantee?

      If you want to connect the dots to all of us and our mundane jobs, you will quickly resent all these players and the first time they screw up you'll go ballistic.

      Don't take out your job dissatisfaction on players. I'm saying that as much for you as them. None of us are competing with these players and their jobs.

      I'm not saying we shouldn't expect players to be responsible while drawing a check. They should be. And if they fake an injury and don't play... well... maybe that's on the university for not putting in a performance clause.

      What I'm talking about in my initial post has nothing to do with players being paid. The pressure at UK basketball... and Alabama football... has been there for decades. Just ask Calipari. I never liked that guy and his revolving door teams... just because I saw this is the direction D1 was headed. If I had to grade Cal as a human being, I think of him differently. I followed him at Kentucky and I seriously doubt there is another coach in college basketball who got more involved in his community and was very generous giving to charities. That's the Cal we never talk about. I typically don't.... because I never liked his basketball style.

      We are all living in some type of dystopian universe. We all worked hard and made normal money. These kids come along and it just looks like fun play, and many get paid more in one year of college basketball than most of us make in a long career. Dystopia! But no amount of complaining is going to change that. Or hating on players. Or throwing a fit because a kid missed a free throw while 4 million people watch.

      2026 is approaching... and I hope all of you have an arse-kicking year! Make tons of cashola! Heck... hit the friggin' lottery! I'll continue to be an old man slaving away, but I'm happy and happy for others who make 100-times more money than me! Good for them!

      I'm pretty much happy for any kids today making big cake because I don't see a great job horizon ahead. College basketball may be something immuned to AI, unless we change the rules and let robots play and operate on AI.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Is that you, Bill Self?

      This is a team that needs high-octane fuel to be successful! That means, super high energy, all the time! We have the bench to use, especially if we have DP back!

      They have to create havoc to be successful. Otherwise, their defense is nothing special at all, and then they are left to try to just outscore our opponents.

      SPOILER ALERT: We may have the best athleticism in D1! I definitely put it at the top! We have speed and good size! We should be able to create huge havoc for all teams we face, and if we can keep that high energy going, it will lead to our opponents committing turnovers, taking bad shots and running stifled offense, and will lead to numerous runouts for us!

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Kansas Jayhawks @ NC State Wolfpack Game Chat Sat. 12/13 4:30 CT

      I'm okay if we go ahead and win out from here on out... with a different guy having a career night each game. Hmmm.... let's see... who is next? lol

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: YAWWNNN KU-Buffs 10 PM

      I could be wrong... but it seemed to me that Melvin had his hands outward to defend while he was running to get inbounds and the Colorado guy literally threw the ball into Melvin. I think Melvin was as shocked as anyone that he was hit with the ball.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Darryn Peterson

      @kjayhawks2.0

      100000%!

      But I will warn you... if we have a game where Darryn scores 30 on 10 of 11 from the field, but that last shot was his miss in the final seconds and didn't save the game, like last night's shot did.... those very same critics will be back!

      So few people on this earth learn a damn thing in life! Very sad.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Kansas Jayhawks @ NC State Wolfpack Game Chat Sat. 12/13 4:30 CT

      This will be a good test. Are we ready to start a new trend of winning on the road? It's one thing to win on a neutral court... and something completely different on their court.

      We will have had several days rest and prep for this game, including the mixing of DP in the lineup. Just from the little bits of DP we've seen... he isn't going to be our quarterback. That position clearly goes to Melvin, who creates plenty of action to build his assist numbers. We need DP to score. There is a good article about Mel on kusports and how he has been the mvp of this team so far. I think DP will become that title eventually if he stays healthy because he'll get more pt and will get properly integrated in this team. Still... it will be close between these guys, while Tre does Tre. I said this weeks ago... he is our "silent assassin!" Melvin barks like a dog.. Tre bites! lol

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Kansas Jayhawks @ NC State Wolfpack Game Chat Sat. 12/13 4:30 CT

      @Jayhawk_69 said in Kansas Jayhawks @ NC State Wolfpack Game Chat Sat. 12/13 4:30 CT:

      Reportedly, Bill Self has said that Melvin Council has been "hands down" the MVP of the team so far. Thoughts?

      Personally, I like Melvin a lot but I would give the nod to Tre.

      I think Tre likes to be the silent assassin. Teams aren't focusing on him with double teams and their prime defender, so he can go get his almost at will. He's the best rebounding guard I think Kansas has ever had. And he's one of the few Jayhawks who understands how to draw fouls in our entire history. I acknowledge Frank and Devonte as being good at this, too... but not like Tre.

      Mel is an energy/emotion guy! He turns it up most when receiving praise. And he does deserve plenty of praise!

      I still can't get over Fran Fraschilla criticizing this group Self recruited from the portal. He always has to find something wrong with KU.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr

    Latest posts made by drgnslayr

    • RE: KU ROSTER 2026-27

      @kjayhawks2.0 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

      Online
      kjayhawks2.0
      about 11 hours ago

      @drgnslayr that’s is a possibility for sure and I hope it happens. I just don’t trust Bill and this staff ability to create a roster good enough to win conference and national championships. Like I’ve said before right now the top teams not only the country but our own conference are bigger, faster, stronger and more athletic. Flory may have been those things against most of the teams we played he was just inexperienced. At the other 4 spots went heavily the other way and the guys on the bench of top teams were unmeasurable levels above ours. We may have had the worst bench in the Bill Self era with Mari and Elmarko getting most of those minutes. Sadly it didn’t have to be that way with guy we had in warms up all season. Maybe as you say those two transferring could be a huge blessing in disguise.

      I still feel like we are at the lingering residue period after making the largest blunder in KU recruiting history... bringing in Dickinson. I agree our bench was weak. Hard to say Self has issues with recruiting if he lands Stokes... that will put us at the top of the recruiting battle. I think our biggest issue is development. Our starting 5 was solid this year and we didn't capitalize. When we did have DP, we didn't come anywhere near utilizing his potential. I've never seen us run so few sets or plays on offense. We can't blame it all on DP being in and out. Elmarko wasn't great, but he knew the offense. A little bit I blame on Self overtouting DP early on. That hurt the team. The other players felt a bit inferior and then didn't perform well while DP was out there because they thought he should control everything.

      It's time for a coaching change after this year. We need new vitality out of coaching. It's not only Self that's tired...

      Going back to our ability to recruit out of the portal. Look at the cumulative crop of guys we have snagged from the portal. Out of those guys, who have we maximized their use for us? If you look at their stats, most had better stats coming in to our program. Often they had better stats after leaving.

      For one thing, Self's coaching style hasn't changed enough to keep up with this. His style was never to get the max out of players in one year. Back in the good old days, we would have players, usually for at least 2 - 3 years. Prime example: TRob. We need to adjust our system around only having players for one year.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: KU ROSTER 2026-27

      @kjayhawks2.0 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

      What I wonder... it's that most of our team didn't hesitate at all to move into the portal. I'm not for certain, but do the rest of the upper D1 teams lose this many?
      

      If I remember right Miami in 2023 I believe made the FF and lost the whole roster in the portal.

      I think the starting 5 of Michigan were all first year transfers.

      I know we are all singing the "doom and gloom."

      I'm now thinking differently. What we have is a very rare situation for Self! He can build his entire team from scratch! For example... what if Elmarko and McDowell stuck around? Those guys know the system, but we already know their limitations. Having many of these players still around limits what we can go out and get. Self is free, except for his signed HS recruits, to create his vision! I just hope it includes great athleticism, physical strength and size, and good perimeter shooting!

      Our big advantage in the portal... it is mostly about money! Surely, Self will have a big piggybank for this task, and we are Kansas with a HOFr coach. I'm involved in several team chats besides KU, and several have already mentioned the THREAT from Kansas, because we need so many positions and have the clout to go get the players.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: KU ROSTER 2026-27

      What I wonder... it's that most of our team didn't hesitate at all to move into the portal. I'm not for certain, but do the rest of the upper D1 teams lose this many?

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: KU ROSTER 2026-27

      @Texas-Hawk-10 said in KU ROSTER 2026-27:

      KU is currently down to 3 returning players with Kohl, Calderon, and Corbin Allen who redshirted last season.

      At this point, other than resolving the Stokes situation, it looks like a bruising big man should be the top priority in the portal. The Big 12 has become the old Big East in regards to physical play and KU doesn't Calderon and Adkins are not that style of big man.

      Is it possible we could bring back Doke just like Baylor brought in a pro?

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: KU ROSTER 2026-27

      Food for thought: Michigan's starting 5 were all transfers last year!

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: KU ROSTER 2026-27

      Meanwhile... back in Kentucky...

      kentuckystokes.jpg

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Not a Completely Disappointing Tournament!

      @stoptheflop for sure... After I found out this was BS I considered pulling it. Then I thought it was still fun and I would simply add "Parody Only" and then I received the benefit of it being around April fools day! Gosh... so much BS out there on Self before he said he was coming back. And also still the BS level is high on Tyran Stokes.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: 2026 Transfer Portal Chaos/Madness Thread

      Our future "key to success" is to develop players well within a season and get them to perform well in March. If we just count on recruiting or keeping big talent, it gets too expensive to build an entire team like that.

      posted in KU Basketball Recruiting
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Not a Completely Disappointing Tournament!

      @wissox83 what did you think of the refs in this UCONN vs Duke game? The only thing that sticks in my mind was when Boozer put his shoulder down and rammed the little guy in the paint like a fullback in football and a no-call. Even the announcers called that one out.

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr
    • RE: Not a Completely Disappointing Tournament!

      @RockkChalkk said in Not a Completely Disappointing Tournament!:

      April Fools Joke probably

      Ha... I'll use that... lol

      posted in KU Basketball / Other NCAAM
      drgnslayrD
      drgnslayr